Yoma 47a — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

After the High Priest had taken the coals in the firepan and placed it full of coals on the fourth row in the Temple courtyard [as explained in the Mishna above, 43b]:

They brought out for him the ladle,

when it was empty, from the Chamber of the House of Utensils, in order to place the incense in it. And with it he transported the incense to the Holy of Holies, as it explains and proceeds.

And

likewise they brought out for him from the Chamber of the House of Avtinas [Meiri

the firepan

in which the incense had been placed.

He took a handful —

the High Priest —

the full measure of his handfuls

from the firepan,

and placed it into the ladle.

The large one,

a priest whose body was large, took a handful

according to his largeness,

with large handfuls, even as large as the handfuls of the son of Kamtzit, whose hand held approximately four kav —

and the small one

took a handful

according to his smallness.

And even like the son of Gamla, whose hand held only as much as two olives [Melekhet Shlomo, from the Jerusalem Talmud].

And this was its measure,

he explains it in the Gemara [Rashi. And see note

below]. And after the priest had taken a handful,

he took the firepan —

of the coals [mentioned in the Mishna above, 43b] —

in

his

right hand, and the ladle —

in which was the incense —

in his left,

in order to place the incense on the firepan in the Holy of Holies.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: They brought out for him the ladle and “the firepan.” It might have entered our minds that they now brought out for him a firepan from the Chamber of Utensils, in order to place the coals in it. Therefore we ask:

They brought out

a firepan?!

Did they now bring out a firepan for him for the coals?!

But it was already taught at the beginning [that is, it is already written at the beginning] in the preceding Mishna, for we learned there:

He took the firepan, went up to the top of the altar, took coals, and descended?!

And we answer:

There,

in the preceding Mishna, it is speaking of

a

firepan for coals.

And

whereas

here,

in our Mishna, it is speaking of

a

firepan for incense, in order to take a handful from it.

As

it was taught: They brought out for him the empty ladle from the Chamber of Utensils, and a heaped firepan of incense

they brought out for him

from the Chamber of the House of Avtinas,

from the place where they pounded the incense and mixed its ingredients.

We learned in the Mishna:

He took a handful, the full measure of his handfuls, and placed it into the ladle; the large one according to his largeness, and the small one according to his smallness.

And this was its measure:

And we ask:

A ladle on Yom Kippur —

why do I need it?!

For “he shall take the full firepan of coals of fire from upon the altar, from before Hashem, and

the full measure of his handfuls

of finely ground incense,

and he shall bring it

from within the curtain,”

the Merciful One said.

And it implies: He should bring the incense before Hashem in his handfuls, without a vessel!

And if so, why do I need a ladle!? [And see note

below.] And we answer:

Because it is impossible

to bring the incense from beyond the curtain in his handfuls.

For:

How shall he act,

how should he act in order to bring the incense in his handfuls and the coals in the firepan into the Holy of Holies?

If

he brings in [that is, brings in] the firepan of coals first,

how should he act?!

and afterward brings in

the incense in the full measure of his handfuls.

This cannot be done in this manner. For —

The Merciful One said: one bringing

for the coals and the incense! As it is written: “He shall take the full firepan of coals of fire, and the full measure of his handfuls of finely ground incense, and he shall bring it from within the curtain.”

And not two bringings.

And if

he takes

the High Priest

the incense in his handfuls, and places it down,

and another priest places

the firepan

with the coals

upon it,

above the incense in the hands of the High Priest,

and enters,

and in this manner the High Priest will enter the Holy of Holies.

This too is not possible.

For

when he reaches there —

how shall he act?!

When he reaches the Holy of Holies, how will he act? How will he be able to lower the firepan resting upon the incense held in his two full hands?

Should you say:

He will take it with his teeth, and lower the firepan,

he will take the firepan with his teeth and lower the firepan?! This too is impossible, for —

Now, before a human king, one does not act this way,

out of respect.

Before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He —

all the more so

that one should not do this!

Therefore, it is impossible

to bring the incense in the full measure of his handfuls together with the firepan into the Holy of Holies.

And since it is impossible, we act as we find

as we find

in

the offerings of

the princes

at the dedication of the altar, as it is written: “One gold ladle, filled with incense.”

We learned in the Mishna:

He took the firepan

with the coals

in his right hand, and the ladle

with the incense

in his left hand:

And we ask: The incense is more important than the coals, so how does the priest take the coals in the important right hand and the incense in the left?! Is this not like the

citizen [that is, the native]

important one standing

on the earth,

[on the earth],

and

the

convert [that is, the convert], who is inferior to him, standing

[the one inferior to him] stands

in the heavens [at the height of the heavens]?!

[in the heights of the sky]?!

And we answer:

This —

the firepan with the coals — is

greater

and heavier, for it contains three kav of coals,

and this —

the ladle with the incense — is

less

and lighter, for it holds only the full measure of two handfuls of incense; and therefore he takes the heavy one in his right hand and the light one in his left.

And even when the two are equal,

and there are also three kav of incense in the ladle [Rashi]

as in the incident of Rabbi Ishmael son of Kamtzit,

the High Priest, who took much incense in his handfuls [as it explains and proceeds, and see note

]: Even so, since with most High Priests the coals were greater than the incense, all of them therefore took the firepan in the right hand and the ladle in the left.

] —

This one is hot and this one is cold [

the Bach deleted this according to Rashi; and see note

below]. They said concerning Rabbi Ishmael son of

the woman whose name was

Kamtzit,

who was a High Priest,

that he took four kav of incense in the full measure of his handfuls,

because he was large in his bodily dimensions and his handfuls were large.

And he would boast

and say: All the women

who gave birth — even they

were branches [

it explains this below].

And

if

the branch

of

my mother —

that is, I —

rose to the roof,

I surpassed them all.

And we explain what he said: “All the women were branches, and the branch of my mother rose to the roof”:

Some say: with arsan,

a food made of wheat called porridge [Ritva, and see note below], which women would eat when they were pregnant in order to strengthen themselves and their fetuses; and concerning this Rabbi Ishmael said: The porridge that my mother ate benefited her more than it benefited the other women.

And in accordance with [the statement of] Rabba bar Yonatan, for Rabba bar Yonatan said in the name of Rabbi Yehiel:

],

Ersan is beneficial for a sick person,

and ordinarily, women who are pregnant are sick, and they would eat it in order to strengthen them and their fetuses [Rashi; and the Ritva explained: it is beneficial for a sick person, and likewise for pregnant women, for it whitens them and whitens the fetus].

And some say: [it means] with seminal fluid,

for the formation of the fetus is not from all of the drop, but from what is selected from it; and concerning this he said that the selected portion of the drop that my mother received grew and rose to the roof.

And Rabbi Yishmael called it zarad, on account of “bundles of zarad,” on account of the selected and “collected” portion from the drop of seminal fluid [Ritva].

And

this that we say, that a person is not formed from the entire drop but from what is selected from it, is

in accordance with Rabbi Abbahu:

For Rabbi Abbahu raised a contradiction [

he challenged] the verses against one another:

It is written

in one place:

“And You girded me” — [

with the alef omitted], which is an expression of selecting with a sieve called “a winnower” —

strength

for battle.

And it is written

in another place:

“And You girded me” — [

with an alef], which is an expression of girding strength at the loins —

strength for battle.

Rather, this is what

David said before the Holy One, blessed is He:

at first,

You selected me,

you selected me from the drop, as a person who winnows in the threshing floor, taking the food and leaving the refuse.

And

afterward,

You strengthened me,

You girded my strength at my loins [explained on the basis of Niddah 31a and on the basis of Rashi there].

They said concerning Rabbi Yishmael ben Kamhit:

Once

on Yom Kippur [Rashi ],

he spoke with an Arab in the marketplace, and a spray

of saliva

from the mouth

of the Arab

onto his garments

of Rabbi Yishmael, and it rendered Rabbi Yishmael impure. For the gentiles, the Sages made them like zavs in all their matters, and their saliva renders impure like that of a zav [Meiri], and Rabbi Yishmael contracted impurity lasting until evening, for the saliva of a zav renders impure through carrying, [see note ].

And his brother Yishvav entered and served in his place

in the High Priesthood.

And she saw

Kamhit

the fortune

of the brothers,

two High Priests

from her sons

on one day.

And they said about Rabbi Yishmael ben Kamhit again: Once

on Yom Kippur

he went out and spoke with a governor [

according to the version of the Dikdukei Soferim]

one in the marketplace, and a spray came from the mouth

of the gentile governor

onto the garments of Rabbi Yishmael,

and rendered him impure.

And Yosef, his brother,

of Rabbi Yishmael,

entered and served in his place [

in his stead] in the High Priesthood.

And she saw

Kamhit

the fortune, two High Priests

from her sons

on one day.

The Sages taught: Kamhit had seven sons, and all of them served in the High Priesthood.

The Sages said to her

to Kamhit:

What did you do that you merited this?

She said to them

Kamhit:

Never did the rafters of my house see the braids of my hair,

at a time when she was able to cover them [the Aramaic translation].

The Sages said to her

to Kamhit:

Many did this

and were modest like you,

but it did not help them, [see note ].

see note ].

The Sages taught:

It is written concerning the meal-offering from which a handful is taken: “And he shall remove from it”

“with his handful.”

And it should have said: “And he shall remove from it his handful” [Siach Yitzhak]; in order to teach you —

that he must not make a measure for the handful.

He must not make a vessel according to the measure of the handful of the priest who takes the handful and take the handful with it, but rather he must take the handful with his own handful.

A question was raised before them: What is it

for the High Priest

to make a measure for the taking of the handful

and take the incense with it?

Is it said: Only

there,

concerning a handful,

it is

that he cannot make a measure for the handful,

for

this

is written, “And he shall remove from it”

“with his handful” —

handful”—

But here, where it is not written:

“And he shall take a handful”

“with his handful,” but

it is written: “And he shall fill

the full handfuls of fine incense

and bring it from within the curtain,” and it does not imply that he must take a handful specifically with his handfuls; if so,

it does not

matter to us if he makes a measure to fill his handfuls.

Or perhaps: he derives

a gezerah shavah:

“full” [

“and he shall fill his handfuls”]

“full” from his handful [

another verse is written: “And he shall take a handful from there,” “full” his handful]?

Come and hear

from our Mishna: He took a full handful and placed it into the ladle, the large according to his largeness and the small according to his smallness,

and this was its measure.

Is it not so

that this is what it is saying:

that if he wished to make a measure —

he makes one,

and he should make it according to the measure of the priest’s handfuls. The large according to his largeness, and the small according to his smallness.

We have therefore learned that he may make a measure for the taking of the handful.

And we reject this:

No.

The words of the Mishna cannot be explained in this way.

Rather,

this is what it is saying: [see note (20)]

And so

And thus —

in the manner of its measuring outside, by means of his handfuls, was its measuring [Rav Huna] also inside. For

he would take another handful inside.

For in the Holy of Holies he would pour the incense from the ladle into his handfuls, and place the incense upon the coals in the firepan. And he would not pour from the ladle onto the firepan [Rashash, and see there].

And we ask: If so, when you have explained

you learn from it

from our Mishna that

he takes a handful

outside

and takes another handful inside, and can you resolve from our Mishna the doubt that they were uncertain about this in the Gemara below, 49a?!

And we answer: You cannot resolve anything. For if you come to resolve from it that “he takes a handful and takes another handful,” I will say to you:

And we answer: You cannot infer anything. For if you seek to infer that “he takes a handful and again takes a handful,” I will tell you:

Perhaps

the intention of the Mishna is:

that if he wished to make a measure —

he makes one.

And if you come to resolve that they make a measure for the taking of the handful, I will say to you: Perhaps the intention of the Mishna is that “he takes a handful and takes another handful.”

Alternatively,

the inferences may be rejected from what they said in the Mishna, “And this was its measure,” that they make a measure for the taking of the handful. For it can be explained that our Mishna teaches us that his handfuls should be full precisely [Ritva ],

that he should not lack

from the fullness of his handfuls,

and that he should not add

to them.

The Sages taught

concerning taking a handful of the meal-offering: It is written: “And he shall take a handful from there”

“the fullness of his handful,”

one might have thought

that the handful would be

heaped,

protruding and emerging on every side —

The verse states: “With his handful.”

If [it is derived] from “with his handful,” one might have thought

that the less the handful lacks, the better, and he should take a handful

even with the tips of his fingers

alone, and not fill the entire length of the palm of his hand —

The verse states: “The fullness of his handful,”

and that is:

as people take handfuls,

in the manner in which people take handfuls.

How is this done:

He inserts the sides of his fingers and presses into the flour, and the flour enters his hand, and

he covers [

closes]

his three fingers [

those between the little finger and the thumb]

over

all

the surface of his hand, and takes a handful.